


Top-Secret Mission to the Library

by pennysparrow



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Steph works in her college library, and I do too so this was super fun to write about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 06:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13117821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow
Summary: Damian needs a book and only the Gotham University Library seems to have it, so he has to ask Stephanie for assistance.





	Top-Secret Mission to the Library

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlmondRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmondRose/gifts).



> I wrote this as a Christmas present for Rose, I hope I did your Brotp justice!

Steph wasn’t exactly _glad_ to be working at the college library over winter break, but the pay and hours were better than during the school year and she didn’t have to deal with holiday shoppers so she was thankful. Working nine to five also meant that she didn’t have to cut down on her hours as Batgirl which Steph was glad about.

She’d finally managed to put the last of the books back on their proper shelves and was just sitting down at her station at the circulation desk when the door opened. Steph looked up, mildly surprised as over the past week there was maybe ten people in the library in total. And most of those had been professors dropping things off and loading up on dvds for the time off. Steph’s surprise and eyebrows both rose as she recognized the scowling face that walked up to the desk.

“Brown,” Damian growled. Steph had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, with the high circulation desk she was able to only see Damian’s head over the top.

“Hey Dami! How can I help you?” She put on her best customer service voice and brightest smile, causing Damian to glower further.

“You can start by not calling me that,” he harrumphed. “I require a book that is only available here and as my time is valuable I’d rather not waste it searching for it so if you can fetch it for me I will remain here.”

Stephanie had to raise a hand to cover her mouth, it was getting increasingly harder not to smile at him. “Um, yeah, that’s not how this works?” she told him once she managed to regain some of her composure.

Damian blinked, his brow furrowing in mild confusion. “And how does it work?”

“Well you give me the title, or author, or whatever and I look it up in our system to get the call number and then if you want I can help you find it.”

“Well the title is classified. It’s for a case I’m working on and you don’t need to be informed of it.”

“Uh huh,” Steph raised a single brow before turning from Damian and pulling her chair back over from where it rolled when she stood up. She settled herself into it and picked up the book Babs had leant her about a year ago and she finally had the time to read. Flipping to where she left off Steph settled her feet on the book drop under the desk and began to read.

Over the top of her book she could see Damian’s head raise as he tried to peer further over the counter, meaning he must have been standing on his tiptoes. There was an expression of ever increasing shock and frustration as Damian took in her nonchalance. Steph had to raise the book higher in front of her face in order to avoid making eye contact with him.

“ _Brown_ ,” Damian hissed, placing his elbows on the counter and drawing himself up with them.

Steph lowered her book incrementally and peered at him over the top of it. “Yes?” she drawled, internally proud of her newfound poker face.

“It is your _job_ to help me.” Steph leaned forward, struck suddenly by how much Damian sounded like Draco Malfoy in that instant. She merely blinked at him before tilting her head slightly, face a mask of confusion. “Do not force me to go to your superior,” Damian raised his chin imperiously.

Steph slouched back in her chair with a sigh. “Lookit bud, you can tattle on me to my boss all you want but they’re not gonna help you cause you haven’t told me what you need help with. Until that happens I can’t do anything.”

Damian stood back and crossed his arms. He frowned, obviously weighing the pros and cons.

Finally, he stepped back up to the desk. “Since we have worked together before I will allow you to know what it is I am looking for,” he nodded and looked at her expectantly. Steph put her book down and her feet back on the floor. She pulled herself closer to the keyboard, finding the online catalogue with ease. Steph looked back at Damian expectantly and waited for him to relay the title to her. He leaned across the counter and looked at her imploringly. Steph widened her eyes and shrugged at him; she could read Cass’s expressions, not Damian’s. He sighed and rolled his eyes before motioning Steph to come closer. She got up and leaned across the counter too so that Damian could whisper in her ear. “I need 1,001 Knitting Patterns for Beginners and Beyond.”

Steph drew back and looked Damian in the eye. He just blinked at her impassively. Part of Steph wanted to laugh at the absurdity of Damian’s request. A larger part of her knew that would hurt the kid’s already fragile ego, but a still larger part told her this was a prank. Steph narrowed her eyes, expecting Damian to start laughing at her or for one of his siblings – most likely Jason or Dick – to jump out with a camera to record her reaction. Damian simply stared back at her, a single eyebrow creeping slowly skyward.

With a shake of her head she turned back to the computer and typed the title into the search bar. Slapping the enter key with a little more force than was strictly necessary Steph suddenly had a greater appreciation for all the research Babs did for everyone. Simply doing her job for Damian was making her antsy. The page quickly pulled up the book and its call number; Steph scribbled it down a piece of scrap paper.

“Here you go,” she passed the paper to Damian, her bright costumer service smile plastered across the face.

Taking it from her Damian wrinkled his nose. “What’s with the face?”

Steph toned down the cheer, her smile falling into a grimace. “It’s my costumer smile.” Damian just stared back at her incredulously, a single eyebrow inching towards his hairline. Steph shook her head, “Y’know what, never mind. You want me to help you find that?”

“You said that part of your job was assisting me in locating the book.” When Steph didn’t reply Damian blinked at her. He gave a long-suffering sigh as he rolled his eyes skyward. “Yes, I would like your help, Brown.”

Steph couldn’t keep her grin contained, it wasn’t everyday that she got him to admit to needing help. Putting up the _Back in a Few!_ sign Steph ducked around to the front and motioned for Damian to follow her. He had to jog a few steps to catch up and shoved the slip of paper back towards her. Steph glanced at it and dove into the shelves, Damian on her heels.

“So what’s the case?” Steph asked as she scanned the shelves.

“What?” Damian asked. He seemed distracted and when Steph stopped he ran into her. He stepped back and glared up at her, Damian snapped at her. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Are you ok?” Steph was growing concerned.

“I am fine. Now the task at hand?”

Steph eyed him suspiciously. “Yeah… no… What’s up kid?”

“I’m not a kid.” The petulant way he said it seemed to argue otherwise. “And what I am working on is none of your business.”

“Damian, I’m your friend, you can tell me what the book is for,” Steph said with a sigh. She pulled one of the step stools from the end of the aisle over, perching herself on it as she waited for Damian’s reaction.

His expression was a warzone as he debated whether or not to tell her. His brow and nose crinkling and smoothing, lips pursing and then pressing into a tight line. Damian’s head tilted to one side before going back to the other. Finally, he nodded and looked at her seriously.

“I am making a present for Grayson. Pennyworth has been teaching me how to knit and I know that he could use a new hat. One of the ones with the pom-poms on top,” Damian trailed off, mumbling to his shoes by the end.

Steph grabbed the sleeve of Damian’s coat and pulled him toward her, engulfing him in a hug. “That’s adorable. He’ll love it.”

Damian hugged her back briefly before grumbling and pushing Steph away. She grinned as she rose to her feet; grabbing the stool to put it back where it came from. Steph inclined her head towards one of the shelves further down and began walking. She began to examine the spines of the books more closely, looking for the call number that mirrored the one on the paper in her hand. Smiling, Steph pulled it off the shelf and handed it to Damian.

“Would I be able to scan the pages I need?” Damian asked as he began to flip through the book.

“Mmhmm, we have a scanner that you can use to send a pdf to your email,” Steph replied easily, slipping back into costumer service mode. “You need anything else kiddo?”

Damian shot her a look, but it softened into a slight smile. “Thank you, Brown, you have been of great assistance to me.”

Steph nodded and set off back towards her desk. She had settled in with her book when a few minutes later Damian returned. Slipping the book into the return slot he gave her a wave before leaving. Steph grinned as she did a count use and set it on the cart to be reshelved later.

The next week Steph came back to the desk from putting more books away in the stacks. She had to pause, on her chair was a simple brown paper bag. Steph put the cart away and walked over cautiously. She would never admit it but hanging around the Waynes and company was increasing her sense of paranoia. Opening the bag Steph pulled out a bright purple infinity scarf. The yarn was soft, and the scarf was warm as she wrapped it around her neck. A note fluttered to the ground; she knelt down and picked it up.

“ _Brown,_  
_Your assistance was greatly appreciated._  
_\- Damian_ ”


End file.
